Carr denies Labor split on Iraq troops

[struggle4progress]

NSW Premier Bob Carr has rejected claims that he disagrees with federal Labor leader Mark Latham over the withdrawal of Australian troops from Iraq.

Prime Minister John Howard pointed to a split in Labor ranks, following a radio interview in which Mr Carr said the troop withdrawal issue would be a "major diplomatic challenge" to a Latham Labor government.

Mr Howard said Mr Carr's comments were designed to tell Mr Latham his policy to recall troops by Christmas was wrong.
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Mr Carr said the interview was a "demolition of the arguments that got us into the Iraq war". "(It is) stating the bleeding obvious to remind people that a disengagement from Iraq, given all the sensitivities of the Americans, will require diplomacy... I'm confident that will be delivered by prime minister Mark Latham's government."
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http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/06/27/1088274625608.html?oneclick=true



Bob Carr on the US

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Bob Carr: ... as Americans comment on it, they’re surprised by it – a little concerned by the direction it’s taking. So you’re either a Democrat or a Republican, and the nation is as evenly divided as it was in that very close election outcome that saw the Supreme Court hand the election to George Bush because of the outrageous electoral shenanigans in Florida.
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Bob Carr: ... It’s seen as being a very political White House, with every decision being filtered through the electoral calculation. And Democrats like Bill Clinton are furious. I heard Clinton say at a meeting a year ago in America, at the Aspen Institute, he said the Democrats should have walked out of the Senate – walked out of the Senate in protest when Republicans started running advertisements against Senator Tom Daschle, accusing him of being disloyal because of his position on various litmus pieces of legislation.
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Bob Carr: … There should have been resignations. There were no resignations. You look at the three reasons presented by the administration for going into Iraq. There were weapons of mass destruction. Those weapons of mass destruction were about to be put into the hands of terrorists, and there were strong links between the Saddam regime and Osama Bin Laden. They were the three foundations for the war. Not one of them stands up. Not one of them survives. And then the great symbolism of Abu Ghraib makes the case against this intervention stronger.
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Bob Carr: Well Australia’s highly regarded in America because we’ve got troops in Iraq. We’ve got to accept that. Second consideration, America is feeling wounded by how the war has gone so wrong. It is very sensitive to any ally, any friend, turning their back on American at this time. So the relationship has got to be handled with a lot of sensitivity and I know this is something that Kevin Rudd accepts as a major responsibility as the foreign minister in a possible Labor Government.
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http://www.abc.net.au/sundayprofile/stories/s1138579.htm


The Bushista attempt at an empire grab is having political consequences around the world.